A few days away

ByJoseph Travis

At the moment it is the children’s summer holidays which means I have to wear my Dad hat a lot more.  We went away to a camping barn and the children had fun staying in “a little house” as my youngest put it.  Oddly while I was away some interesting things happened. For one we had the first piece of writing for the lending Library this is mug 17 that was given away to a member of my writing group.  I love the connections other people make that I never would have found by myself. The second thing that happened…

Making as a Performance

ByJoseph Travis

Making by throwing or hand building is the only part of the process where the clay feels alive to me. As soon as it dries out to greenware, my love for it wanes. Generally all love is destroyed as it changes chemically and becomes set in stone. Sometimes the glazing can bring a sense of liveliness, but it doesn’t have the same sense of being alive that fresh clay has. When I was a full-time maker I made a lot that I thought would sell. The problem is as I created these objects I lost part of the passion that…